Amanda Radke: Cowgirl's Perspective 4-19-14

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I’ve long been a proponent of consuming animal fats and proteins, not just because I’m a beef producer but because I’ve tried and failed many diets over the years and the only one that has worked for myself to lose weight and maintain that loss has been a low-carb, higher protein and fat diet, centered around eating the very beef that my family produces.

By no means does that make me a health and nutrition expert. My own n=1 experiment certainly doesn’t apply to everyone, but I was intrigued by an article I ran across recently that supported what I had experienced in my own personal health journey.

Written by Kris Gunnars of Authority Nutrition for the Business Insider, the article entitled, “These 11 Charts Show Everything That’s Wrong With The Modern Diet,” showcases trends in American diets and how they have correlated with the growing obesity epidemic that started in the 1970s.

Here is an excerpt from the article: “The modern diet is the main reason why people all over the world are fatter and sicker than ever before. Everywhere modern processed foods go, chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease soon follow.

“The studies are clear on this ... when people abandon their traditional foods in favor of modern processed foods high in sugar, refined flour and vegetable oils, they get sick. Of course, there are many things that can contribute to these health problems, but changes in the diet are the most important factor.”

The 11 charts pointed out these 11 points:

1. Total sugar intake has skyrocketed in the past 160 years.

2. Consumption of soda and fruit juice has increased dramatically.

3. Calorie intake has gone up by around 400 calories/day.

4. People have abandoned traditional fats in favor of processed vegetable oils.

11. The low-fat dietary guidelines were published around the same time the obesity epidemic started.

While you could debate the merits of sugar or wheat or other agricultural food products, I think the overall message here is there has been an increase in consumption of processed, sugary foods and a definite decrease in foods like eggs and meat. Here is what the article concluded:

“The first dietary guidelines for Americans were published in the year 1977, almost at the exact same time the obesity epidemic started. Of course, this doesn’t prove anything, but it makes sense that this could be more than just a mere coincidence.

Since the guidelines were published, many massive studies have been conducted on the low-fat diet. It is no better at preventing heart disease, obesity or cancer than the standard Western diet, which is as unhealthy as a diet can get. For some very strange reason, we are still being advised to follow this type of diet, despite the studies showing it to be completely ineffective.”

I don’t know about you, but I think I’m going to go grill myself a big, juicy ribeye, and maybe I’ll go wild and add a pat of butter on top. Bottom-line, animal fats and proteins are fuel for our bodies; not the enemy they have been made out to be. ❖